The principal of one of Birmingham's biggest colleges has offered his resignation and admitted the institution is "not good enough" ahead of a damning Ofsted report.
Tony Henry said he was devastated after learning Birmingham City College is to be slated by inspectors who visited the further education centre last month.
The report has not yet been published, but The Birmingham Post has learnt inspectors judged it to be in the worst-category grade four in most areas, including leadership.
The condemnation means the college - the third biggest in the city with nearly 30,000 students and serving some of the most deprived localities - faces potential closure or merger.
Governors for the college corporation are to meet before Christmas to decide whether to accept Mr Henry's resignation. Speaking to The Post , Mr Henry said: "I have given the governors the option to do that and they will decide when they meet on the 18th of December. I did that immediately once we got the report. I wrote to the governors and it is up to them."
Mr Henry, who was due to retire shortly after 35 years in the public sector and 21 years working as a college principal, added: "I am devastated by it. The simple fact is that our students don't achieve as well as students in other colleges.
"I have to face my colleagues. I have my family who are also in this with me. It is a very difficult period before Christmas."
Mr Henry, who is one of the highest-paid college leaders in the region, admitted he had failed to properly lead the institution, which he took over four years ago and has nearly 23,000 students.
"There are two things. One we had an ambitious building programme in the last two years and maybe my attention was put more on that," he said. "Also, we have a financial position to recover from which I inherited three years ago. In the end we have very challenging students.
"We haven't been challenging enough with them and we need to concentrate on that quality and spreading the things we do right."
Mr Henry added: "I don't disagree with the Ofsted judgement. This is what they have to do. We are not good enough in terms of our students succeeding relative to the national average."
Mr Henry said he would stay on at the college if that was what the governors decided.
"I am not going to leave them in the lurch. I will do what is best for the college. If they want me to go immediately and put an interim manager that is fine. If they want me to carry on for a bit I will do that."
Following publication of the Ofsted report, it will be up to the Learning and Skills Council - which funds colleges - to decide what action to take.
Colleges previously found to be failing have been given a year's notice to improve or face a raft of options, including closure or merger with a more successful institution.
A spokesman for the Birmingham and Solihull office of the LSC said: "We are aware that City College Birmingham underwent an inspection earlier this month, the findings of which are currently under moderation.
"We look forward to studying the detailed observations of the inspection team when their final report is published."
However, Nick Varney, regional officer for the University and College Union, said: "Moral among staff has plummeted following the disastrous Ofsted report.
"Our members face continual challenge, upheaval and change when what they really want is to be able to give the best possible service to their students.
"The UCU has not been written to when they have raised issues of concern to managers. If this inspection report tells us anything it is that our concerns were correct."
A source within the further education sector who did not wish to be named said: "It is a long time since a college of this size had such a bad report.
"The LSC are going to have to move very quickly on this one. They have drawn up a short list of people they want to talk to to go in as an interim principal."
City College, Birmingham was created in 1998 following the merger of East Birmingham College and Handsworth College.
It consists of seven main campuses across the city.
